Let’s look on the bright side.

[Bubum]

Hello everybody. I’m new and looking forward to interacting with people who’ve also drawn one of life’s many short straws. 😊

[stillaboveground]

Welcome to the forum Bubum, I have had a great deal of help and support from the people on here, not everyone is able to give advice but they will still be there for you. Good luck stay safe.

[Bubum in reply to stillaboveground]

Thanks for your reply and good luck to you too.

[EmmyLaury12]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum 😊

We mostly all in the same boat as you and it’s good to hear people’s experiences and to know there are others out there who have draw the short straws in life but honestly you can survive this and go forward .this forum has inspired me and we are here for you if you need us,

Take care ,

Sheila

[Bubum in reply to EmmyLaury12]

So reassuring thank you.

Kind regards

Chris.

[080311]

Hello Bubum

Welcome to the forum, doesn’t life sometimes pull the rug from beneath our feet !

Reading your bio, giving up smoking is the very best thing you can do on the road to recovery it’s hard and there are lots on the forum who have gone through it.

Eating a healthy diet is another thing we can do BHF recommend a Mediterranean diet, lots of us follow this.

Someone joined yesterday after a heart attack and said it was the start of a new life, and that’s what it is, getting your head round what as happened takes time but you will get there.

I haven’t had a heart attack but had open heart surgery Aortic valve replaced and bypass, I was 68 never been ill before and couldn’t believe my body had let me down. 4 years on and I am grateful every day to the medical team that gave me my life back.

Us Hearties on the forum have a range of heart issues, but we will always be here to lend an ear or a shoulder to lean on.

Wishing you a good recovery take it easy slowly does it.

Best wishes Pauline

[Bubum in reply to 080311]

Thanks Pauline, made my day. x kind regards Chris.

[Lonmayloon]

Hi Bubum, welcome to the forum. After you’ve followed it for a while you’ll find that many people have gone through exactly the same things as you and can offer excellent advice and reassurance. All the best.

[Bubum in reply to Lonmayloon]

Thanks. Glad I joined. Regards Chris.

[Sunnie2day]

Hiya and welcome! As the others have said, you'll find this lot of happy Hearties very supportive, lots of great tips on adjusting to your personal new-normal. I read your profile - HA in Feb 2020 and you've been advised to have an ICD fitted, that's a big new-normal!

Re the ICD, everyone here who's had one fitted makes it clear they are very happy with it, the disadvantages seem to be far outweighed by the advantages. I don't have heart conditions that would see my cardiologist recommending one for me but if he did my only question would be 'When do you want to do it?' and that is down to reading all the posts from 'satisfied customers' here on the forum.

Any road, welcome to the Hearties

[Bubum in reply to Sunnie2day]

Thanks for that, it’s just the driving restrictions for me with the ICD, I have AF as well so everytime the irregular AF sets off the shock, I have to give up driving for 6 months or that’s the way I understand it.

Any road up, I have an essential tremor too, not always visible to others, unless they are looking, then it goes wild 🤣

[Sunnie2day in reply to Bubum]

How long have you known about your ET?

Mine is primarily in my left hand. The worst thing for me with it is trying to hold a tea cup and saucer, the rattle is awful, lol! I'd laugh louder but it's not pleasant when people notice the tremor and suggest I should get hold of my nerves - or be checked for Parkinson's.

Lately I've noticed trying to hold a plate at a buffet is not going so well. And, worse, now it's going to my voice and that's not 'fun' at all.

I have a set of exercises from the neurologist for hands to force fine motor control that work fairly well, and if I am consistent with the voice exercises (reading aloud first thing in the morning for at least a half hour), the tremor seems to calm enough to make me sound less creaky. I'm not on any medications but if my head ever starts shaking I'll be first in the queue at the chemist!

My ET is not hereditary - it's been decided it's from the childhood bout with rheumatic fever that left me with Rheumatic Heart Syndrome (with aortic valve scarring) and Rheumatoid Arthritis, and was made much worse after a car wreck in my teens.

Life's little short straws

[Bubum in reply to Sunnie2day]

Hey

About 8 years now. Also no meds for this, shall we say, quirk.

Mine’s mainly in my right hand and a little in my left leg, my gp thought I was developing Parkinson’s so I went for an MRI scan that revealed a disc at the top of my spine was cutting through the spinal cord and killing off some nerves. Had disc replaced (3yrs ago) and although not cured, it won’t get any worse. So writing is very hit and miss, and the rattle from a cup and saucer is deafening especially in public, I’m on the two hand approach 🤣 My worst time is in the pub, picking up that first pint, you notice someone looking over, and it goes mental, beer everywhere 🤣🤣 You know what they’re thinking, “alchy”.

Sounds like you’ve been through a few episodes in life yourself, that’s what life is for I suppose.

Ah well, some people have littler shorter straws than us. I suppose it’s just the way you deal with it. 😊

[Sunnie2day in reply to Bubum]

Yes, I'm on the 2hand approach now as well

[Scoopdogg]

Welcome to the group - I’m a newbie too. Im 48 soon - Possibly overdid some partying in my forties too - although mine it seems Is probs hereditary - anyway welcome and I hope you find the support as useful as I do

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hi Bubum

Welcome to the club you never expected to join and never wanted to, but as you say it is what it is.

First if all - well done on stopping smoking. I've smoked my whole life, tried countless times to pack it in, but always kept going back to it ,,,, until 31.12.2018 when heart attack/cardiac arrest , Got a patch slapped on my arm the next day in hospital - did the 12 week course of the patches and haven't smoked since. I got the speech on the lines of "The most important thing you can do if you don't want to be back here in an ambulance is the stop smoking" Clearly trying to frighten me - clearly worked!😊

Hopefully you're getting used to all the medicines, I know from some of the posts on here that some people have a difficult journey getting the balance right.

With covid-19 getting to cardio rehab will have been impossible, hopefully as gyms open up rehab will restart and you'll soon get called up. Rehab is a vital part of recovering from a heart event. As well as providing the physical help to get back in shape, it is also invaluable in the amount it helps mentally. Part of my rehab included a large number of educational sessions which explained all the aspects of heart problems, which are very useful in understanding everything.

Diet is also important, the BHF and the NHS recommend the Mediterranean Diet, which many people on this forum have adopted - it took me a while to get used to it as a replacement to my old diet, but I think I've got there now.

I see from your profile that you're on Entresto and are considering having an ICD, so I assume you're got an impaired Ejection Fraction. Mine was 30% after my heart attack and it was suggested that I had an ICD fitted, which I did in August last year. My EF is now 40-45% so it's still a bit below the normal range, but I'm completely asymptomatic. I posted an account of having the ICD fitted that you might want to have a look at so you can get an idea of what's involved, the link to the post is below

healthunlocked.com/bhf/post...

While you're waiting for rehab, try to chill, do some exercise and try not to get stressed. Before you know it you'll be well down the road to your new life.

Best wishes

[Bubum in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Fabulous reply thank you so much 😊

[Prada47]

Hello

Lets look at it as getting a Long Straw rather than a Short Straw

Why is that,? because it gives us/you a chance to change, a lot of what is to follow is up to you or us!! Oh and a good Cardiologist !! and that's after2 G &Ts enjoy life you have plenty yet to come . Set backs do occur but you can overcome them as we all have do. Positive is the word !!

Wishing you Well

Stay Well Stay Safe